It is common to find barcode readers in use in a variety of venues like retail environments, warehouses, product transport facilities, factories, and so on. In many cases, these barcode readers are expected to operate over a wide range of distances, giving the operator the ability to read barcodes from just inches away to tens of feet. While it is possible to construct such readers using a single imaging assembly, this design is not cost effective as it requires complex optical componentry that is operable to capture image data over the wide working range. Instead, a more common approach relies on multiple (often two) imaging assemblies where each assembly is configured to capture image data over a subset of the entire working range. This method is advantageous as it employs simpler optical components that can be both more robust and cost efficient. However, there are also drawbacks. For example, due to the use of multiple imaging assemblies, the barcode reader may be tasked with attempting to decode a barcode within multiple respective images. This can increase computational resources allocated to image analysis, delay the overall scan operation, and/or increase power consumption resulting in faster battery drain in cases of cordless readers. As such, there is a need to optimize decode operations in barcode readers having multiple imaging assemblies.